mostly short queer fiction from a tall queer guy

Writing Wednesday – Smile!

I had to go to the dentist this morning for my six month checkup, and while I hold no residual fears over dentists any more (you can’t have had as much surgery and reconstruction on your jaw as I have and still worry about a filling), it’s still not exactly on my top-ten list of fun things to do.

Sitting the waiting room, there were two other guys. Of course, one started to tell the other a fag joke.

When I was younger, I would have been righteous and political about it. Now I’m just tired of that shit and pissed off. So I said, “You do realize you’re insulting the gay guy in the room, right?”

After that, the waiting room was awkward and silent, like a waiting room should be.

(Also, I felt a wee bit righteous and political.)

But! This is Wednesday, and on Wednesday we wear pink… Wait, no, on Wednesday, I take a moment to hold myself publicly accountable to writing goals.

The Novel

Joining Camp NaNoWriMo to keep myself chugging along through this rough-draft re-write/stitch-together was such a good idea. I owe Kayleigh Malcolm a huge hug for pointing it out to me. I’m somewhere around 37k of the ~68k whole of what is a rough draft I’ll be sending out to beta readers. I’m routinely seeing 6k to 8k days now, as I’m polishing and tweaking, and filling in tiny gaps, but otherwise zooming through the pieces and making the whole.

Guys? I’m almost done!

The Short Stuff

Beta reader for the story I wrote for the next Saints and Sinners Literary Festival was helpful (and kind) – I’ll actually have a story ready to go as soon as the contest opens, for once. I also have a title now, “Sweet William.” She suggested it. Hands up if you’re surprised I had no title?

*crickets, crickets*

*

Open Calls I Know About

Torquere Press has quite a few themed submission calls up right now, the earliest deadline for which is July 15th, 2015.